Washing machine balancing means



Jan. 9, 1968 R. w. BARITO WASHING MACHINE BALANCING MEANS Filed Aug.

INVENTOR. ROBERT W BARFYO ms ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,362,198 WASHING MACHINE BALANCING MEANS Robert W. Barito, Louisville, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 570,334 9 Claims. (CI. 6823) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An automatic washing machine; having a receptacle to receive fluid and fabrics to be washed in the fluid, agitation means to effect washing of the fabrics, centrifugal extraction means to extract fluid from the fabrics, and drive means for operating the agitation and centrifugal extraction means; includes a system balancing means comprised or particulate Weight matter; such as magnetite, mixed and fused with sulphur. A suitable balancing means may include at least 15% sulphur by weight, with about 18% sulphur being a particularly suitable portion. Where very high deflection resistance is desired, 3-5% by weight of reinforcing fibers such as glass may be included in the mass.

Present-day washing machines usually have a washing system including a basket to receive fluid and clothes to be washed in the fluid, agitation means to effect a washing action on the clothes, and a drive mechanism to operate the agitation means and to spin the basket for centrifugally extracting fluid from the fabrics. Essentially all these machines include a balance ring device mounted on the basket to alleviate the effect of an unbalanced fabric weight load during spin. Also, due to overall machine size limitations, it is very diflicult to arrange the operating components of the machine such that their weight is evenly distributed. Therefore a counterweight usually is included to balance the weight distribution of the machine.

For years the balance ring and counterweight, which generically may be called system balancing mass or means, have provided the washer manufacturing industry with very serious manufacturing problems. Their sole useful purpose is to add weight at desired locations. However, they must be impervious to the conditions encountered, i.e., moist atmosphere, contact with water, bleach, detergent, etc. They should be as low in cost as possible and should lend themselves to modern mass production procedures. Various approaches have been used, but all have short comings. Sand and magnetite are relatively heavy and inexpensive; however, each must be in a container which is impervious to the conditions encountered. This adds to the cost of their employment and slows the production process. Concrete eliminates the need for a container but adds cost and has a very long cure time (slowing down the production rate). Cast metal has been used but is fairly expensive, has a long cure time, and usually requires a protective coating to prevent rust.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved balancing means for automatic washing machines.

It is another object to provide such improved balancing means which may be constructed from low cost materials by a process compatible with mass production methods and is highly resistant to the operating conditions of washing machines.

In one aspect of my invention I provide improved balancing means, including a balance ring and counterweight, for an automatic washing machine which is constructed from particulate weight material (such as magnetite or sand) fused with sulphur, wherein the sulphur forms at least about 15% by weight of the balancing means.

The subject matter which I regard as my invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portions of this specification. The invention itself,

however, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

The single figure of the drawing is a schematic elevational view of a washing machine incorporating one embodiment of my invention.

Referring now to the drawing, I have shown therein an automatic clothes washing machine 1 having a conventional basket of clothes receiving receptacle 2 provided over its side and bottom walls with perforations 3 and disposed within an imperforate tub or casing 4. The basket and tub together form a receptacle to receive fluid and fabrics to be washed in the fluid. The basket is provided with a balance ring 5 to alleviate the effect of unbalanced fabric loads when the basket is rotated and thus steady the basket during high speed rotation.

Tub 4 is rigidly mounted within an appearance cabinet 7, which includes a cover 8 hingedly mounted in a top portion 9 of the cabinet to provide access through opening 10 to the basket. The rigid mounting of tub 4 within cabinet 7 may be effected by any suitable means, for instance, strap members could be provided, each of which is secured at one end to the cabinet and the other end to the outside of the tub. At the center of basket 2 there is provided an agitator 11 which includes a center post 12 having a plurality of curved water circulating vanes 13 joined at their lower end to an outwardly flared skirt 14.

Both the clothes basket 2 and the agitator 11 are rotatably mounted. The basket is mounted on a flange 15 of a hub 16 and the agitator 11 is mounted on a shaft 17 which extends upwardly through the hub 16 and through the center post 12 and is secured to the agitator so as to drive it. During a cycle of operation of the machine 1, liquid is introduced into the tub 4 and basket 2, and the agitator 11 is then oscillated back and forth on its axis, that is, in a horizontal plane within the basket, to Wash the clothes therein. After a predetermined period of this Washing action, basket 2 is rotated at high speed to extract centrifugally the washing liquid from the fabrics and discharge it to the drain. Following this extraction operation, a supply of clean liquid is introduced into the basket for rinsing the fabrics and the agitator is again oscillated. Finally, the basket is once more rotated at high speed to extract the rinse liquid.

The basket 2 and agitator 11 may be driven by any suitable means. By way of example, I have shown them as driven from a reversible motor 18 through adrive mechanism including a clutch 19 mounted on the motor shaft. The motor is tailored so as to be used to its full extent when it accelerates the basket 2 up to spin speed, in order to assist the motor during starting, clutch 19 allows the motor to start without a load and then accept the load as it comes up to speed. A suit-able belt 20 transmits power from clutch 19 to a transmission assembly 21 through a pulley 22. Thus, depending upon the direction of motor rotation, the pulley 22 of transmission 21 is driven in opposite directions. The transmission 21 is so arranged that it supports and drives both the agitator drive shaft 17 and the basket mounting hub 16. When motor. 18 is rotated in one direction, the transmission causes agitator 11 to oscillate and, when motor 18 is driven in the opposite direction, the transmission rotates the clothes basket 2 and agitator 11 together at high speed for centrifugal fluid extraction. While the specific type of transmission used does not form part of the invention, reference is made to Patent 2,844,225 issued to James R. Hubbard et al. on July 22, 1958, and assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention. That patent discloses in detail the structural characteristic-s of a transmission assembly suitable for use in the illustrated machine.

In addition to operating the transmission 21 as described, motor 18 also provides a direct drive through a flexible coupling 23 to a pump structure, generally indicated at 24, and which may include two separate pumping units 25 and 26 both of which are operated simultaneously in the same direction by motor 18. Pump unit 25 has an inlet connected by conduit 27 (opening 28 formed in the lowermost part of tub 4). Pump unit 25 also has an outlet connected by a conduit 29 to a suitable drain (not shown), Pump unit 26 has an inlet connected by a conduit 30 to the interior of tub 4 and an outlet connected by conduit 31 to a nozzle 32 which is positioned to discharge into a suitable filter pan 33 which may be secured on the top portion of agitator 11 so as to be removable therewith. With this structure, then, when the motor is operating so as to provide agitation, pump unit 26 draws liquid in through conduit 30 from tub 4 and discharges it through conduit 31 so that the liquid passes from nozzle 32 into filter pan 33, and then down through a number of small openings provided in the bottom of the filter pan back into the basket 2. Conversely, when the motor is operated so as to rotate the basket 2 and agitator 11 together at high speed to centrifugally extract fluid from fabrics in the basket, pump unit 25 will draw liquid in from opening 28 through conduit 27 and discharge it through conduit 29 to drain. Each of the pump units is substantially inoperative in the direction of rotation in which it is not used.

Motor 18, clutch 19, transmission 21, basket 2 and agitator 11 form a suspended washing and centrifuging system which is supported by the stationary structure of the machine (including tub 4) so as to permit isolation of vibrations from the stationary structure. While any suitable suspension structure may be used, I show by way of example a suspension structure which includes a bracket member 34 with transmission 21 mounted on the top thereof and motor 18 mounted to the underside thereof. A counterweight 35 is mounted on the bracket member 34 opposite motor 18 to balance the weight distribution of the various components of the suspended system. The bracket member, in turn, is secured to upwardly extending rigid members 36 and each of the two upwardly extending members 36 is connected to a cable 37 supported from the top of the machine. While only a portion of the suspension system is shown in the drawing, such a vibration isolation system is fully described and claimed in Patent 2,987,190 issued to John Bochan on June 6, 1961, and assigned to General Electric Company, the assignee of the present invention.

In order to accommodate the movement which occurs between basket 2 and tub 4 without any danger of fluid leakage between them, the stationary tub 4 is joined to the upper part of transmission 21 by a flexible boot member 38. A member of this type is described and claimed in Patent 2,959,966 issued to John Bochan on Nov. 15, 1960, and assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention.

Hot and cold water may be supplied to the machine through conduits 39 and 40 which are adapted to be connected respectively to sources of hot and cold water (not shown). Conduits 39 and 40 extend into a conventional mixing valve structure 41 having solenoids 42 and 43 and connected to a hose 44. In a conventional manner selective energization of solenoids 42, 43 or both 42 and 43 will provide the passage of hot, cold or warm water from the mixing valve 41 through the hose 44. Hose 44 is positioned to communicate with a nozzle 45 positioned to discharge into the basket 2 so that when one or both of the solenoids 42 and 43 is energized, water enters basket 2 and tub 4. The level to which the water rises in the basket and tub may be controlled by any suitable water level control means, many of which are well known in the art. A control circuit normally is included to control the operation of the various components of the machine and would include appropriate parts so that the user may control the speed of the drive mechanism so as to select a wash and rinse agitation speed and extraction spin speed by utilizing controls such as rotatable member 46 and pushbutton 47 as well as selecting desired water temperature and fluid level within the machine. A particular control circuit is not required for a clear and complete understanding of my invention and a number of such circuits are well known in the art. Therefore, for the sake of simplicity, a particular circuit has not been illustrated.

As an important aspect of my invention, I provide a new and improved system balance means for clothes washing machines such as the one described above. The system balancing means, in the machine illustrated, includes both the balance ring 5 and the counterweight 35. In accordance with my invention the system balancing means is constructed from particular weight material, such as sand or magnetite, fused with sulphur. I have found, for example, that suitable balancing means may be provided by fusing magnetite with sulphur such that the sulphur forms at least about 15% by weight of the fused material, with about 18% by weight being a particularly suitable portion of sulphur. According to one suitable method of manufacture, molten sulphur and hot magnetite are charged to a heated, rotary mixer and intimately mixed. This mixture then is charged into a mold. The mold then is allowed to cool and the bonded material is removed from the mold, The bonded material thus produced has a high resistance to the operational environment of washing machines and structurally is very strong. A temperature of about 285 F. for the molten sulphur, hot magnetite and heated mixer has been found to be suitable for the mixing process.

With the machine shown in the figure of the drawing the balance ring 5 includes a body 58 consisting of fused particulate weight matter and sulphur held between the basket 2 and a cooperating sleeve 51. The sleeve 51 extends around the outside of the body of the bonded material and is attached to the basket by some suitable means such as welding. The counterweight 35 is illustrated as a body 52 of fused particulate weight matter and sulphur received in a suitable container 53 with the container attached by a suitable means to the member 34.

The particular methods shown for attaching the various components of the balancing means to the associated portions of the washing machine are for illustrative purposes only and my invention is not restricted to such constructions. They have been shown because they illustrate ways in which my new and improved system balancing means may be quickly and expeditiously incorporated into already existing manufacturing processes.

Some manufacturers use balance rings of the general type shown, filling them with either magnetite, sand or some other particulate weight matter. A disadvantage of such a construction in the prior art is that the seal between the basket 2 and the member 51 must be absolutely water tight to provide a satisfactory life for the basket. In order to accomplish this, it has been found desirable to provide a double seam continuous weld at the top and bottom of the member 51 and to utilize a heavy duty material for the member 51. By utilizing the fused body 50, the member 51 may be made of a lighter material and the connection between the member 51 and basket 2 need not be water tight. Thus a single weld seam or spot welding would be suitable for attaching the two members 2 and 51. Additionally, other means of attaching the balance ring will readily come to mind to those skilled in the art. For instance, a balance ring placed on the outside of the basket might be formed in sections and bolted to the basket. Also, a balance ring might be placed in a suitable groove provided on the inner surface of the basket and held in place by some suitable means.

By the same token, prior art counterweight similar to that shown at 35 have used sand, magnetite or other particulate weight matter enclosed in a heavy-duty, watertight can. With my new and improved system balancing means, a body 52 of particulate weight matter fused with sulphur could be supported in a light-weight, open-top container such as that illustrated at 53. Illustrative of the time saving provided by my invention is the fact that a body 52 of fused magnetite and sulphur will cure (harden) in about 30 minutes while a similar body of concrete will require at least about 24 hours to cure sufficiently to be mounted in a machine.

It will be understood that the particular washing machine shown has been used for illustrative purposes only and other washing systems both of the vertical axis and the non-vertical axis type require system balancing means and are equally well suited for my new and improved system balancing means.

It will occur to those in the art that it may be desirable to construct some system balancing means components with a very high deflection resistance. Such would be the case for balance rings which are to be secured to the outside of rotatable baskets by bolt arrangements. I have further found that a small portion of reinforcing fibers such as glass may be fused in a balance ring of my invention and provided even higher deflection resistance. For instance, a balance ring of particulate weight matter bonded by at least about by weight of sulphur and having about 3 to 5% by weight of glass fiber has very desirable load deflection characteristics.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provided new and improved system balancing means which have very high resistance to the operational environment of washing machines and may be constructed from constituents having low cost by processes which lend themselves to modern mass production methods.

The foregoing is a description of the illustrative embodiment of my invention and it is my intention in the appended claims to cover all forms which fall within the scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an automatic washing machine including a receptacle to receive fluid and fabrics to be washed in the fluid, agitation means to effect washing of the fabric, centrifugal extraction means to extract fluid from the fabrics, and drive means for operating the agitation means and centrifugal extraction means; a system balancing mass comprised of particulate weight matter mixed and fused With sulphur.

2. A system balancing mass as set forth in claim 1 wherein said sulphur constitutes at least about 15% by weight of said mass.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said mass includes a counter-weight adapted to counteract any unbalanced Weight distribution caused by the various components of the machine.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said mass includes a balance ring adapted to alleviate the effect of possible dynamic unbalance of the centrifugal extraction means.

5. In an automatic washing machine including a rotatable container to receive fluid and fabrics to be washed in the fluid, agitation means mounted in the container to effect washing of the fabrics, and drive means adapted selectively to drive the agitation means and container for washing fabrics and centrifugally extracting fluid from the fabrics; a system balancing mass including a counterweight adapted to counteract any unbalanced weight distribution caused by the various components of the machine and a balance ring adapted to alleviate the effect of possible dynamic unbalance of the container during centrifugal extraction, said mass being formed of particulate weight matter mixed and fused with sulphur wherein the sulphur constitutes at least about 15% by weight of said mass.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein said particulate weight matter is magnetite.

7. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein said mass further includes about 35% by weight of glass fibers.

8. In an automatic washing machine including a rotatable container to receive fluid and fabrics to be washed in the fluid, agitation means mounted in the container to effect washing of the fabrics, and drive means adapted selectively to drive the agitation means and container for Washing fabric and centrifugally extracting fluid from the fabrics; a system balancing mass including a counterweight adapted to counteract any unbalanced weight distribution caused by the various components of the machine and a balance ring adapted to alleviate the effect of possible dynamic unbalance of the container during centrifuglal extraction, said mass being formed essentially of magnetite mixed and fused with sulphur wherein the sulphur constitutes approximately 18% by weight of said mass.

9. The invention as set forth in claim 8 wherein said mass further includes from about 3% to about 5% by weight of glass fiber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,836,083 5/1958 Smith 6823 X 2,973,637 3/1961 Sisson 6823 3,021,956 2/1962 Bochan 6823 X 3,184,934 5/1965 Smith 6823 X WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner. 

